This Moto Jacket Means Business

Moto (short for motorcycle) jackets have such great shape and details — asymmetry, zippers, snaps, buckles, elbow patches. They are, quite simply, too cool to belong exclusively to motorcyclists — and thus have been appropriated by the fashion industry for every conceivable occasion. See, e.g., Leandra Medine of Manrepeller here, wearing a moto jacket for her wedding.

Here is my favorite moto jacket, perfect for work:

Poised to mediate, litigate, and hard-brake

This jacket is made of a cotton, space-dyed fabric, which is both substantial and breathable and therefore can be worn in all but the coldest and hottest months (January, February, July, August). I have never been able to decide if it is blue or grey, but I wear it with dark grey pants and a sleeveless silk sweater, also grey, underneath. The best part of this outfit is, in my opinion, my mother’s vintage Liberty scarf — Strawberry Fields — which she generously lent to me in the mid 1990s. I wear it when I need a special boost. The vintage floral combines beautifully with the modern jacket.

Grey sweater and pants acquired nearly two decades apart; clearly they strove across time and space to be together

As the Directrice stares off into the middle distance, she realizes that under the doctrine of adverse possession, the scarf is now, technically, hers . . .

I’ve folded the scarf on the diagonal and then tucked it into the sweater, flat, rather than knotting it, for a streamlined look. A knot would create a little too much visual chaos because we already have the pattern of the jacket, the contrast piping at the collar, and the pattern of the scarf.

This jacket also looks good with a white collared blouse underneath it.

P.S. I bought my Shinola watch. Have you bought yours? Turns out, there is a Shinola store on 14th Street. The staff are lovely — friendly, enthusiastic and knowledgeable about their products — so you should pay them a visit.